Dear Elsa:
I don't know if you read my letters, maybe it's stupid to cling to the possibility that someday I will receive a response from you, there is not a day when I don't think about you and what I did to you, I made very serious mistakes and I understand what causes you great damage; I miss you, I am sorry and aware that I do not deserve your forgiveness.
Losing you has been by far the worst punishment I have ever received, and although I truly wish to regain your heart, I will not force you to see me again.
What I told you was true; I fell in love with you, sweet Elsa. I still and will continue to love you, but I know you deserve someone better than me.
I want you to be happy, safe and well, even if it's far from me.
Always yours, Hans Westergard.
P.S. Perhaps you will enjoy knowing that the royal council is not very happy with the great change you made in giving me the crown and even the children of the old King detest me with obvious reasons, but I regret to inform you, Snowflake, that I am alive and I plan to continue being with lifetime. Who won this time, little queen?
-0-
- "He is here, Your Majesty" - Kai informed her. The blonde closed the book she was reading. - "He is waiting for you in the throne room"
- "Thank you, Kai. I'll be right away "- Elsa replied. The man bowed before leaving as the blonde prepared to return the book to the bookseller before heading to the room where after a long time she would be reunited with Hans.
She walked the corridors of the castle until reaching the throne room, Hans when he saw her could not help showing an expression of astonishment, while she smiled slightly.
- "You look very beautiful, Your Majesty" - The redhead spoke. - "It's been a long time since the last time" - He commented.
"I know, a few years if I'm not mistaken" - She spoke. - "Do you want to take a walk in the garden?" - She asked, he agreed.
None knew exactly what to say, although they had exchanged correspondence in the last months, none knew what to say once they were face to face,
"How is your nephew?" - Hans asked after a long silence.
"Very well, Einar is an adorable little boy" - She replied. - "We all adore him, he brought the happiness that was so lacking to the castle. Now he is trying to learn to walk, so Kristoff and Anna are on the lookout for him all the time "- Elsa commented laughing a little as she remembered the times when her little nephew had tried to stand up only to then fall.
"I admit that I was hoping to receive an invitation to his presentation party" - Hans mentioned.
- "Weselton is not an ally of Arendelle, in addition we had hardly begun to exchange correspondence; Kristoff convinced me to stop throwing your letters in the fireplace before reading them "- Elsa said.
- "So my letters ended there"
- "I was upset with you, I had the right to be and I didn't want to know anything about you" - She said. - "I needed time to think and put my life in order"
- "I missed you a lot, Elsa" - Hans said.
- "Me too" - She admitted. - "Many times I felt that i needed you a lot" - The queen confessed.
- "I know I was an idiot and not even millions of apologies will be enough to reward you for everything" - said Hans. - "But I thank you for starting to answer my letters, the first time I received a response from you I thought I had imagined reading your name written on paper" - He said. - "I don't know if you still mistrust my words, but I'm really sorry and I love you"
Elsa sighed before speaking again.
"Hans, I ..." - She said. - "I don't know what you expect me to tell you, I think I will never know if I really came to love you, I was having a bad time and I had clung to the fact that you were the solution to all my problems, but I am a disaster and back then it was even more so "- she said. - "You were the person who treated me well when practically everyone made me feel like garbage, and I will always remember fondly whatever it is that we came to have, but…"
"You don't love me" - He said. She was silent. - "It's okay. You don't have to reciprocate my feelings. "
"Thanks for understanding" - She said. - "But, we can be friends, of course, if you want. "- The queen spoke. - "More than a lover, you became a great friend to me, and right now I think a friend is just what I need"
"I understand, and yes, I would like to be your friend" - Hans said. - "And maybe then we could be something more ..." - He suggested as a joke
"Don't push, okay?" - She replied jokingly.
They continued chatting, catching up, making jokes and it felt like they had never distanced themselves from each other.
- "I admit that I was surprised that you managed to stabilize the economy in Weselton" - Elsa commented.
- "Were you surprised ?, I thought deep down you always knew that would happen, you just wanted to punish me in some way"
- "I thought that if you managed to do it, it would only be possible through a marriage of convenience" - She said. - "I think I underestimated you"
- "You have told me that it is a mistake to underestimate people" - Hans made the observation. - "You don't want to admit it, but you knew that I would succeed in bringing the kingdom forward"
- "Believe what you want" - she joked, dismissing the redhead's words.
- "And what about you? How are things going here in Arendelle?"
- "They have improved a lot, so I would say that you are not the only one who is good at ruling a kingdom" - She said. - "It is not to brag, but I got some trade agreements with important kingdoms"
- "I have never doubted you, and I am glad to see you being the one who governs Arendelle, you are an admirable queen"
"Thank you," she said, blushing. - "I didn't feel sure I could do it at first and I thought a lot about abdicating the crown" - Hans looked at her in surprise. - "It was difficult at first, and it took me a while to get comfortable here again, I am not the most emotionally stable person in the world, but of course, you already know that"
- "But you're much better now, right?"
- "Yes, I am" - She replied. - "Everything is better here, there have been no serious problems" - She said. - "I think the hardest thing has been dealing with the royal advice, they are a headache, but I can take care of them"
- "May I ask what explanation you have given to the absence of Zackary?"
- "He committed treason to both Weselton and Arendelle, he was the author of several crimes and when he was discovered he fled" - She replied. - "When he was not found, he was presumed dead, now he is just a bad memory that we claim never existed. We had no children so there was no point in keeping portraits and that kind of thing, I wish I could also erase it from my mind, but I think it is too much to ask "
- "Does the council no longer torture you by demanding an heir?"
- "My nephew Einar will be my heir" - She replied. - "At first the council wanted to refuse, since Kristoff does not come from a family of the nobility, but I told them that I am infertile, and they ended up resigning themselves to accepting it"
- "You don't know if that's true"
- "I know I don't know that, but I certainly have no desire to find out and I doubt I want to know one day" - She said. - "And what do you tell me? Your royal advice does not cause headaches?"
- "They would not be a real advice if they didn't" - The redhead replied. - "But at least for now they focus on improving the economy of the kingdom, Weselton lost many allies after your visit and the radical change of king, and although now the situation in the kingdom has improved and is stable, there are still things that I have to take care of "
- "I know you will do a good job" - Elsa said. The queen looked away and saw Kai walking towards them. - "I think it's time to leave you, but we'll continue talking later, okay?"
Before Hans could say anything, Kai got to where they were. - "King Fredrik of Stavanger is here" - Kai said.
- "I'm going in a second, tell him to wait for me in my office" - She said, Kai nodded and left, leaving them alone again.
- "I have to go" - Elsa said.
- "Will your majesty see a suitor?" - He joked.
- "He is not a suitor, he just wants to propose a deal involving the territorial sea of Arendelle and his kingdom, after all Stavanger and Arendelle are neighboring kingdoms" - She said. - "See you later, do not cause problems during my absence"
She walked away, suddenly stopped and turned just to smile at him. Hans watched her carefully, without a doubt seeing the queen smile was one of the greatest joys he had ever had, he felt calm when he saw her being happy.